About Kiwimbi International
OUR MISSION:
To partner with underserved communities to create educational opportunities through locally run community learning centers.
• 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization.
• Founded in 2011, began operating in Kenya in 2012.
• Kiwimbi Kenya received its approval as an NGO (Non-governmental Organization, the Kenyan equivalent to a US charity) in 2015.
Kiwimbi Funding
In 2020 $176,866 was sent to Kiwimbi Kenya and of the total KK Program Expenses,
$27,000 went to provide daily lunches for 200 students in the Prep for Success Program.
Kiwimbi Library & Community Centre
• First free library in Busia County.
• Visited by over 450 daily.
• Schools borrowing books: 72.
• Satellite lending libraries at 3 other locations.
• Providing library lessons to 22 schools weekly
• Students receiving access to books: over 40,000. (ranging from 100 to 1,800 per school)
• Number of books: over 20,000 and growing.
• Number of E-readers: 25.
• Museum that displays art works and cultural artifacts.
Programs
• National exam preparatory programs in English and math for Grade 8 students at 3 primary schools (nearly 200 students), including lunch so students can focus on their studies.
• Learning camps at Kiwimbi Library 3 times a year during school breaks.
• Weekend learning programs and Library access.
• Vocational programs in tailoring, carpentry, art, weaving, beading, and agro-forestry.
• FMAT (Feeding, Mentoring and Tutoring) model: This is the overarching program for support of the Grade 8 students and includes Prep for Success, Food for Thought and the very important one-on-one mentoring that bring a higher level of accountability and guidance. This mentoring includes basic counseling, encouragement to read a lot of books, review of basic math including times tables, help with study skills and daily check-ins with the mentor/tutor.
Prep For Success
The ‘Kiwimbi Prep for Success’ program aims to deliver on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Number 4 (Quality education – ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all) by supporting students to prepare for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), a mandatory national examination in Kenya. Success or failure in the exam determines a student’s progression from Grade 8 to secondary (high) school, making it a crucial undertaking for any child desiring further education. Through the program, we provide instruction, camp programs, small group instruction and, importantly, lunch to participating students (through its offshoot program, ‘Food for Thought’).
Food for Thought
In rural Kenya, many children walk long distances to attend school – with no lunch boxes or brown bags, as is customary in the United States. This means that the children often have to walk back home over lunch hour for a meal that is not guaranteed – all this while they prepare for a high-stakes national examination that determines their future. Kiwimbi supports the admirable efforts of such children in a number of ways. A key component of our work is geared towards providing lunch our library and in surrounding schools, in order to give children an opportunity to progress in school and expand their long-term prospects.
KIWIMBI FACTS
In 2020, 63% of the students participating in Kiwimbi’s Prep for Success program passed the national KCPE exam, compared with 19% nationally and about 3% in similar rural areas! This is an increase from 38% in 2019 for the students who receive support from Kiwimbi’s program.
The impact is critical, because the exam determines the quality of the school in which a student will be able to enroll now that the Kenyan government has mandated secondary school for all students.
There are four levels of secondary schools in Kenya. Those who pass with high marks are offered spots in high quality national schools while those who achieve a low score will be left with no options but to attend a low-quality local (sub-county) high school where there might nothing more in term of supplies than a chalkboard and chalk in a classroom of over 100 students. Many of the children in these sub-county schools complete their education without learning the basics of reading or math and remain illiterate. These students are forever hampered in any attempts to build a livelihood for themselves and their families beyond subsistence farming.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, Kiwimbi:
- manages a public library with over 20,000 volumes and newspapers in English and Swahili available to all members of the community as well as two satellite libraries
- distributes books weekly by boda boda (motor scooter) to over 50 schools
- consults with teachers to achieve effectiveness in classrooms of 60 or more students
- works with students individually and in small groups to help them succeed academically
- provides lunch nearly year-round to about 200 grade 8 students in three local schools.
- offers vocational programs in sewing, carpentry, and the arts to improve the self-sufficiency of older students not destined for advanced education
